1. Technical Field
The disclosure generally relates to fasteners and, more particularly, to a fastener capable of conveniently assembling and disassembling a heat sink on and from a printed circuit board, and a heat sink assembly including such a fastener.
2. Description of Related Art
Electronic components, such as central processing units (CPUs) comprise numerous circuits operating at high speed and generating substantial heat. Under most circumstances, it is necessary to cool the CPUs in order to maintain safe operating conditions and assure that the CPUs function properly and reliably. In the past, various approaches have been used to cool electronic components. Typically, a finned metal heat sink is attached to an outer surface of the CPU to remove the heat therefrom. The heat absorbed by the heat sink is then dissipated to ambient air. The related finned metal heat sink is made of highly heat-conductive metal, such as copper or aluminum, and generally comprises a base contacting the CPU to absorb the heat therefrom and a plurality of fins formed on the base for dissipating the heat.
Conventionally, a linear-type clip is used to secure the heat sink to the heat generating electronic device by fastening the heat sink to a printed circuit board on which the heat generating device is mounted. The linear-type clip, which is integrally made from a resilient metal wire, generally includes an elongated pressing portion and a pair of locking arms extending from opposite ends of the elongated pressing portion in opposite directions. When assembled, the elongated pressing portion of the clip abuts against the base of the heat sink toward the heat generating device, and the locking arms are resiliently engaged with clasps provided on the printed circuit board to thereby secure the heat sink to the heat generating electronic device.
In order to ensure a reliable securement between the heat sink and the heat generating device, the clip has to be deformed largely to produce a large pressure on the heat sink, which requires a user to manipulate the clip with a large force during assembling. However, due to having the resilient linear-type structure, the clip can only provide a very limited contacting area to be handled. It is very inconvenient for the user to apply such a large force on the very limited contacting area of the clip. Accordingly, the assembly efficiency thereof is low.
What is needed, therefore, is a fastener capable of overcoming the above-described problems.